New Recipe, Thrifty Find & A Present for Me!!

I came across this recipe in the latest issue of BHG and had to make it.  We had my husband's parents over for dinner last nigh for their anniversary so it was the perfect opportunity to try it out.

There was a lot of prep work involved but I think it was worth it and I would def make it again.

I cut the cooked chicken into small pieces.

Added the rest of the ingredients for the filling.

What I love about this recipe is that it's Mexican, but the filling goes into cooked pasta shells!  So unique, but SOOOO good!

Here it is with the Doritos on top.

Everyone LOVED it and since I put everything together in advance, I was able to do all of the dishes and have no cleanup after dinner!
If you'd like to make this, I've included the recipe at the bottom of this post.

But first, I forgot to show one of my yard sale finds in my thrifty post over the weekend.  I squealed when I saw these rattan chargers as I have been looking for some to have on hand.  I was able to purchase 10 of them for only $3!  Yippeeee!!!

While I was cooking there was a knock at the door.  I opened it to find a package on my doorstep!  Me LOVE getting packages!!!

I spy a label from Ballard's!

And inside, a new catalog and a note congratulating me on winning Rhoda's giveaway over at Southern Hospitality!

I won this sweet rustic lantern - perfect for my rustic family room!

Thanks again Rhoda you sweet Southern thang!  I just love it and I can't thank you enough for offering this generous giveaway.

Of course I spent last night perusing my new catalog for some treats.  Me thinks me gonna splurge on a gift for myself....

So I'll end this random post with the recipe mentioned above.  I'd love to hear if you make it, but only if you liked it!  Ha!

xoxo,
Kim

On a Whim...

I woke up to a dreary rainy day and couldn't get myself motivated enough to go to the gym.  Instead, I decided to check out the local thrift store for some goodies.  I was very happy with what I found!

I've been looking online for one of these cheese slabs for a very long time.  I think the correct term for these is Antique Ironstone Cheese Slab.  I couldn't find one online/Ebay at all.  But as luck would have it I came across this suitable substitute for only $2!  The only identification on it is Ted Arnold "Letter Perfect".....

It sits on my toaster oven for now until I find a better home for it.

This little Tuscan box was only $3.

I added it to my entertainment center in the Family Room.

This is what was there before:

I like this look better for now.

Some fun on a rainy day.

My New Pride and Joy

My latest project is now completed after sitting in the garage for over nine months.  I hope you like it as much as I do!

This is what it looked like in its previous state.

I purchased this from a barn sale I found on Craig's List. This guy had a huge barn stocked full of antiques, but it was the kind of thing where you had to dig through piles and piles of stuff.  Of course I didn't have to dig far to see this beauty, which he sold to me for a mere $40.  I still don't know why it was so cheap as there is really nothing wrong with it structurally.  The only issue with it was the little piece missing from the bottom left door and a small piece of the decorative moulding on the inside of the glass door was coming off, which didn't matter because I wanted to remove that anyway (insert OMG!!! here).  Other than that it was in great shape.  Just a little moldy.  Keeping it in the garage for so long didn't help that either.

When it was finally time to clean her up, Mr. Bliss and I used some Murphy's Oil soap to gently clean the surface.  I thought long and hard before deciding to paint it.  It's solid mahogany and has some beautiful inlay work, not something you typically want to paint over.  But, for my purposes and where I was choosing to put it, painting was the only logical choice.

This picture shows how the piece missing is hardly even noticable now.  I kept the original hardware on these doors.

But switched out the knob for this glass one I got at a yard sale.  The tassel is from Tuesday Morning.

I chose to remove the inside door moulding because I wanted to be able to better see the inside.

I applied some toile fabric that my friend Stacy gave me using fabric adhesive and added the trim with a hot glue gun.   The hardest part was measuring and finding the best piece of fabric to display.

It's the same on top and bottom.

Here it is with the door closed.

A better look at the detail.

This picture shows the glazing technique I used.

We purposely did not use a primer so as to better show the aging.  We used a latex paint and gave it two solid coats with a third only in certain places.  I then sanded in certain places and of course glazed using a stain to bring out the detail and then removing the excess with a damp rag.

This is what it looks like in my sitting room off of the master bedroom.  Those plates need to be rehung, but that's another project that hopefully won't take nine months!  Speaking of nine months, baby is doing great and I'm sixteen weeks today, so starting my fifth month already!

Thanks for stopping by.  I'm joining these great parties today.

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Today's Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality
Garage Salen' Party at Debbie Doos

Be sure to stop by these amazing parties  hosted by some amazing ladies to see some other great thrifty treasures and transformations!

The Red Chest

Happy Sunday! Today I thought I'd share some changes I made in our Mud Room over the weekend. On Friday, Mr. Bliss took the day off from work and surprised me by taking me out to breakfast, Jersey Diner style. Afterwards we stopped at the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore and I immediately spied with my little eye a set of three French Country pillows nestled on an old Victorian couch.

I got a closer look at the tag and realized the pillows were being sold with the couch. Of course I asked if I could just have the pillows, to which the mean old crotchety manager said no. I thought explaining that French Country pillows on an old Victorian couch doesn't make a lick of design sense wouldn't exactly get me on his good side. So instead I begged sweet-talked him into selling me just one. For two bucks.

Don't you know when I went to pay for that pillow another employee tried to take it! Fortunately the sweet lady at the register explained that I had already claimed it. You know what happened next??? Yep. She scooped up the other two!!! Whatev. I was happy with my one totally awesome, totally French Country, totally almost FREE pillow.


While in French Country mode, I came across The Red Chest. 

This beat-up, old, worn-out, chippy four-drawer chest missing a piece of hardware had seen better days for sure. But it had tons of character,

lots of storage space,

fabulous detailed mouldings and hardware AND it had wheels.

Let me just tell you that I love anything on wheels. Not because I'm lazy and don't like to lift heavy pieces of furniture from room to room. I do that every day without complaining. TIP: Whenever you see an antique on wheels, it is valuable. It is worth more money. I'm not talking about big fat castors. I mean little old rusty wheels. The Red Chest had perfectly rusted wheels, was only $25 and was coming home with me on the spot.

And unlike most times when I fall in love with a piece of furniture and worry about where to put it later, I knew exactly where The Red Chest was going to go. In my French Country Mud Room.

This used to be our laundry room.  Go here to read about the transformation.

I've always lusted for wanted a Butler's Pantry. I just love the idea of having that extra nook for storage of linens, dishes, glasses, etc. My Mud Room is directly off of the kitchen and with The Red Chest in there now, it sort of feels like a Butler's Pantry.

 Maybe not the fancy kind, but a more humble old farm house kind.

Here's The Red Chest all gussied up.

Rooster tray from a flea market.

Wire basket from a yardsale this weekend.

Things I stole moved from the Kitchen.

That's me in the picture.

Remember these billiard balls?

I decided I just couldn't part with them......

Thanks so much for visiting, I hope you're glad you did.  Stop by again!

xoxo,
Kim